Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters charged a line of police in an intense standoff with hundreds of officers outside the Israeli consulate Tuesday on the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
After the larger gathering began to disperse, splintering off into smaller groups, other interactions with police led to more than a dozen arrests. Officers called the demonstrations “an unlawful assembly.”
Earlier in the night, officers carrying wooden clubs shouted “move” and penned the demonstrators in on the street, preventing them from marching.
Some demonstrators set an American flag on fire in the street as the celebratory roll call for Vice President Kamala Harris took place inside the United Center about 3.2 kilometers away. Others carried Palestinian flags, while many others wore black and covered their faces.
As protesters regrouped and approached a line of police in riot gear in front of a Chicago skyscraper that houses the Israeli consulate, an officer said into a megaphone, “You are ordered to immediately disburse.” A woman in the front of the march shouted back with her own megaphone: “We’re not scared of you.”
A man in a Chicago Bulls hat, his face covered by a balaclava, called on protesters to “shut down the DNC.” The group, which is not affiliated with the coalition of over 200 groups that organized Monday’s protests, advertised the demonstration Tuesday under the slogan of “Make it great like ’68,” invoking the anti-Vietnam War protests that seized the city during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
The atmosphere with rows of police in riot gear was a stark contrast to a day earlier when thousands of pro-Palestinian activists, including families pushing babies in strollers, marched near the convention site calling for a cease-fire.
Police kept protesters confined to a block of Madison Street, a normally bustling downtown thoroughfare where traffic was halted on both ends Tuesday evening.
Law enforcement had closed down most of the entrances to the building on Tuesday, allowing commuters to come in only one entrance where armed officers were also posted. Many of the building’s shops were closed. Martha Hill, a spokeswoman for the Metra commuter rail service, said train service was running as normal.
The consulate has been the site of numerous demonstrations since the war in Gaza began in October. It is in a building connected to the Ogilvie Transportation Center, a major commuter rail station.
Mohammed Ismail, a 29-year-old psychiatry resident who lives in Chicago, described the police presence as “excessive,” and questioned why the group had been blocked from marching. He said he joined the protest to urge Democrats to cease funding to Israel.
“It’s not right that we’re sending our tax money to fund an ongoing slaughter, an ongoing genocide,” Ismail said. “We’re a part of this conflict because our money is paying for it.”
Meanwhile, the sites of demonstrations from the previous night were largely quiet. Thirteen people were arrested during Monday’s protests, most them related to a “brief breach” of security fencing “within sight and sound of the United Center,” the city’s police superintendent said.
Israel supporters, including some relatives of people kidnapped by Hamas, gathered earlier in the day at a pro-Israel art installation not far from the consulate to call on U.S. leaders to continue backing Israel and pushing for the release of hostages. The art installation included giant milk cartons bearing photos of some of the hostages.
Elan Carr, CEO of the Israeli-American Council, condemned the pro-Palestinian protesters who have descended on Chicago this week, calling them “fringe crazies” and demanding that U.S. leaders “stand unequivocally with the state of Israel.”
More protests were planned throughout the week. However, attendance at the main rally on Monday was far below estimates of organizers who had predicted more than 20,000 would show up.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Tuesday that the crowd was around 3,500 strong and that the vast majority of the protesters were peaceful.
However, some clashed with police, used pepper spray against them and threw water bottles at officers during the clash in the park where there was a breach in security fencing, Snelling said. He said officers did not use any chemical sprays.
“Our officers showed great restraint,” he said at a news conference. “We’re not going to tolerate vandalism and violence in our city. … We’re going to continue to protect the city.”
Snelling said with more protests planned, his department is prepared to de-escalate situations whenever possible.
“Again, we’re up to the challenge,” Snelling said. “The city is up to the challenge.”
The park where the most arrests were made, located a block from the convention arena, served as a destination point for a march of thousands calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Several dozen activists broke off from the main group, breached the fencing, and were pushed back by police.
Authorities said the inner security perimeter surrounding the United Center was not breached and there was no threat to those attending the convention.
On Tuesday morning, an extra line of fencing was installed at the park and the tall metal barriers were reinforced to prevent protesters from lifting and removing the panels. No police officers or protesters were in the park early Tuesday.
The 13 people arrested during Monday’s protest were detained on charges ranging from criminal trespass and resisting and obstructing an arrest, to aggravated battery of police officers, Snelling said.
At least 10 of them were arrested in connection with the fence, he said.
Snelling said he did not connect those who tore down the fence with the entirety of the march. He said the vast majority of participants were peaceful, and he praised his officers’ conduct in the moment.
The Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild said two of the people arrested were hospitalized. Snelling said they were not taken to the hospital for injuries, but “so they could be provided the treatment they needed when it came to their medications.”
Two people were also arrested on misdemeanor property damage and resisting arrest charges during a protest march Sunday night. As of Tuesday morning, 15 people had been arrested.
Most of the largest demonstrations have been organized by the Coalition to March on the DNC, which has focused on calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. But smaller protests have popped up around the city, during the convention’s welcome party at Navy Pier.
